Lily
by floro13
Summary: The story of Jane Austen's Emma retold as the story of Lily and James. Lily the hopeless matchmaker, James the guy hopelesssly in love with the hopeless matchmaker and the troubles that blossom!
1. Chapter 1

**It is a truth universally acknowledged that a writer, in possession of more free time than she anticipated, must be in want of a storyline. Okay, I am a self-confessed Jane Austen fan- I just love her books to pieces! And she always creates really yummy heroes (sigh Mr Darcy…). So as a tribute to this great authouress, I have taken it upon myself to write this fic- the story of Emma altered to a James/Lily story (my no. 1 all time fav. ship). In all, it should be 22 chapters long (I actually have it all planned out this time!) and is just a bit of fluff to enjoy at the end of exams! Note: I have NOT abandoned 'Is it all just a dream?'- it is still being worked upon and hopefully, I shall be alternating updates between the two stories. However, I'm a little uber-enthusiastic about this one at the moment, so it may take priority for a little bit. Enjoy!**

**R xxx**

**Disclaimer: If you see anything, vaguely similar/remotely similar/slightly similar/identical to or otherwise very familiar, it's a pretty safe bet that it doesn't belong to me! **

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Prologue

Our story must first begin with the family Potter. Although proud within their own right, they were a respected, well-liked and highly affable group of people. Their blood ran as pure as mountain water and their bloodlines could be traced right back to Godric Gryffinor. Never had the family produced a Slytherin, possibly the only family to have done so, and it was a fact not easily made forgotten.

The Potters, for all their merits, were about the proudest family of blood purity, excepting of course the Blacks and possibly the Malfoys. That isn't to say that they abhorred muggle-borns, far from it in fact. Many Potters had half or muggle-born friends. Some even had muggle friends. But a Potter would never marry one, never even date one, unless they wished to rid themselves of the name 'Potter' forever.

Unfortunately, there were two incidents within this family, which were to disrupt this perfect chain of perfect heirs. The first is widely known- that of the last Potter, James, marrying a muggle-born girl, Lily, thus extinguishing the line's purity forever.

The second however, was to take place twenty nine years previously, when Mr and Mrs Lysander Potter were to give birth to a child who not only looked nothing like any of his family, but also happened to be a squib. Until the child was eleven years of age, it could not really be certain, but connections with the Ministry and the Headmaster allowed the Potter's to view the scroll on which the names of every magical child born were written as they were given birth to. Sure enough, there was no name where there should have been.

Distraught, the grandparents of the child urged their children to give the boy up for adoption. After many tears and anguished arguments, the parents had to agree it was for the best. The boy was given to an orphanage (a good one at least, where the parents could be contacted at any time should it be necessary) where he was quickly adopted by another couple. Lydia Potter wrote sporadic letters to her son over the years, explaining every circumstance that had led him to his current position. The young boy grew up, fearing and loathing his natural parents, of what they were and of what he might have become. Thus he took his adopted parent's name, as though this may be of some insult to his real parents. Which of course it wasn't.

Rumours flew across the magical community, no-one scarce daring to accuse Lydia of having an affair outside of marriage. It was simply not done- although there seemed little other explanation. How could the boy have no magical talent and look nothing like the rest of his family, if that was not the answer?

However, most rumours were laid aside on the birth of the Potter's next and only other son nine years later. James's name was present on the scroll (a fact the parents checked almost the instant he was born). He possessed the thick dark hair and hazel eyes of almost every other member of his family. So everyone was content.

Excepting of course one small boy who, although given a perfectly adequate childhood, could not help resenting his parents and everyone else… like them… after what they had done to him.

Thus James Alexander Herschel Ignatius Potter was christened, on the same day a young boy named Vernon sat at his window, not caring one jot that he had a new younger brother.

And so it was that, fourteen years after the James' birth, Mr Vernon Dursley first began to court the sister of one Miss Lily Evans. Vernon Dursley had not recommended himself to Lily in the slightest for, having been told what she was, his fear and anger at anyone connected with the wizarding world rose to the surface and Lily had been treated like scum on mud. And so, when the engagement was announced in the middle of their fifth year, James and Lily both learned of the situation.

Thus their regard for one another began to alter. At first, Lily's perpetual anger and hatred of James was deepened at the mere thought that they might ever become closer than they were at present (which, given all its due, was a about as close as the equator is to the North Pole). However, her reasoning soon caught up with her, and she began thinking of what it must be like to have a brother, something she had long wished for. Despite the fact that she severely disliked James, a small, tiny, miniscule (etc. etc.) part of her didn't really mind the attention her paid her. And at least she wasn't followed by looks that told her quite plainly that she could have been a cholera infested slug and they would have liked her better (as she was around her sister and fiancée).

James however, became slightly more cautious around Lily. He did not know what her thoughts on the situation were as they had discussed it as briefly as she could allow. His pranks began to diminish, his attempts to make her go out with him depleted and overall, after the summer holidays of their fifth year, James wondered if he ever now stood a chance with the girl who was, one day, to become his sister in law. And of course he had continual morality checks with his conscience to find out if it was completely wrong to fancy your sister… even if it was by marriage. He decided eventually he wasn't sure… if that was a decision.

Perhaps when they finally did become related, something would change…

Something most definitely did.

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I know this is short, but it is only a prologue. I should be updating in the next 24 hours (with all fingers crossed!)**

**If you review I will love you forever and eternity!**

**R xxx**


	2. Of boys and blondes

**Ooh, well I have been getting a little over-excited about this whole thing and need to release the artistic tension that is bottling up inside me. Exactly how impressive this artistic talent is I shall leave to the discretion of my dear readers! (Being quite critical of my own work, I am forever feeling that as soon as I post a chapter, it is nowhere near as good as I think I could have made it. Anyone else have the same problem?).**

**I hope, therefore that this instalment is up to scratch! Please please review- eternal gratification on my part will ensue (woah, big words today… I hope this doesn't affect its comprehensibility!)**

**R xxx**

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'**The happiest thing in the world is a match well made, and a happy marriage to you both'**

**- Emma to the new Mr and Mrs Weston.**

Screwing up her eyes and taking a deep breath, Lily made a dash towards the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10. She had made this run countless times over the past five years, but had never as yet managed to do so with comfort. Her flaming red hair whipping out behind her, she melted into the seemingly solid barrier, arriving on Platform 9 ¾ with fifteen minutes to spare before departure.

Lily glanced around at the milling witches and wizards, her emerald eyes searching for those she knew. Countless parents were tearing over the loss of goodness knows how many children. Cats of all different colours ran unchecked through the crowds, obviously in search of anywhere that might spare them the dreaded seven hour train journey in the bumpy carriages.

Several of the children Lily passed had faces that told her quite clearly that they were new first years (the slightly green pallor of their faces was a bit of a giveaway). Most, however, were greeting class mates, swapping holiday news and eyeing the older students with renewed interest. Lily rolled her eyes- the ages of raging hormones were fast creeping up on these poor, unsuspecting young children. She looked around at the main sources of interest- Gideon and Fabian Prewett, twins and good friends of hers were in the centre of a gaggle of giggling fifth and sixth years as they told tales of… Lily observed their wild hand gestures…

'Quidditch,' she muttered to herself, rolling her eyes yet again.

James Potter, Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin were similarly occupied, but Sirius Black was nowhere to be seen. A trifle odd, Lily thought, seeing as it was popular belief that Black and Potter had been surgically bound at the hip since first year.

'The' group of popular stupid blonde air-heads were milling around between these two groups, obviously needing a combined brain force of five to work out which of the boys they were most likely to score with. And then Lily saw…

'Alice!' she cried, flinging her arms around the girl fast approaching her on the left. The combined force of their hugs almost knocked them flying into a boy standing right by them who looked as if they might bite him, muttered a very hasty and heartfelt apology for getting in their way and ran off to the other end of the platform, plainly terrified. The two girls laughed loudly.

'Lily darling! How was your summer?' asked Alice, finally drawing back allowing Lily to take a much needed breath. 'And how is the dreaded Mr D?'

Lily made a face reminiscent to someone who has just swallowed Bubotuber pus. 'Ugh, complete nightmare. I swear, the sooner Pet gets up and marries him, the better. At least he won't have to visit the blinking house.'

Alice linked a sympathising arm through Lily's as she said, 'Well, at least you're gaining a brother from the whole ordeal.'

Lily snorted. 'Do you think the relationship will make him more or less likely to kill me while I sleep?'

Alice laughed, but cast a knowing glance up ahead at the group of three boys, with whom the group of blonde bimbos seemed to think they would be better occupied and were now making stupid gooey eyes at under layers of inch thick mascara. 'I think you know I wasn't referring to dear Vernon.' Lily fought back a groan. For the entire summer, she had thought of nothing about her impending legal binding to someone who, until her sister's fiancée had turned up, she liked to think of as the person she disliked least in the whole world. The arrogant prat however, at least seemed to be backing off slightly- she had only received four letters from him over the holidays, reducing the numbers from the previous summer by a staggering twenty-seven.

'Hmph,' Lily retorted, unable to come up with a more witty and cutting response. She looked at Alice, who seemed to be looking out for someone else… and Lily had a sneaky idea who.

Alice Ingleby, although the year above Lily, had become her greatest friend and most loyal confidant in the five years she had spent at Hogwarts. Lily's contemporaries in Gryffindor were all members of the 'prissy posse' and Lily liked to think of herself as slightly less desperate than they. So she and Alice had had become friends and had met properly through the Charms Club which they co-founded along with the Prewetts and James Potter (Lily didn't have the slightest clue why he had decided to join in as he had no special regard for the subject, having always expressed a greater interest in Transfiguration. However, it was obvious to everyone else that the fact that Lily was on the committee and they had weekly meetings might have been something to do with it). Alice was slightly shorter than Lily and not quite as waif-like although by no means fat at all. She had light brown hair which was bobbed just above her shoulders and large pale blue eyes that smiled, even when her mouth was not. She had a round, friendly face and although not beautiful in her own right, her exquisitely kind nature and sun-beam smile made her instantly gorgeous to all who knew her.

Last year, Lily had taken it upon herself to do some match-making, although she would never admit it herself. She merely dubbed it 'propitious persuasion'. It had been common knowledge to all of Alice's friends that she liked Frank, and it had been common knowledge to all of Frank's friends that he liked Alice. But Lily had been the only one to do anything about it. And so, sure enough, with gentle manipulation on Lily's part, Frank Longbottom, had finally worked up the courage to ask Alice out at the end of the year. And, as one can guess, the answer was extremely favourable (when we say extremely favourable, Alice leaping into Frank's arms and kissing him senseless would be termed as mildly favourable).

So when Lily spotted Frank loitering near the other end of the train, she made sure they made an instant bee-line for him. She marvelled at the speed at which Alice's eyes melted as she saw her boyfriend and knew that this was no over-the-summer fling, this was going to be a serious relationship.

'Hi Lily,' said Frank in his soft voice, pulling her into a hug. 'Good summer? Wait, no, don't answer that. I'm sure it was shite what with old what's-his-nit loitering around the house.' Lily nodded, affirming his statement, but grinning all the same.

'Makes it all the better to be going back to school again,' she said positively. Frank smiled back and then turned to Alice, greeting her with a little more fervour than he did with Lily, which was of course to be expected.

'Back in a sec,' she muttered to Alice who broke away from Frank just long enough to confirm she'd heard her, but no longer that that. Lily smiled to herself, glad she was the main cause of their happiness. She wandered off down the platform towards the Prewetts who had lost enough of their audience for Lily to break through to greet them.

'Lils!' they both cried in unison and each trying to grab her for a hug, ending up in a rather messy entanglement of limbs on the ground and a stray cat that seemed to think that the train journey was obviously a better bet than the station and clawed its way out from the melee. When they all finally regained their vertical positions, Lily gave them each a big hug, causing dagger-like looks from the bimbos now boarding the train.

'Have you seen Frank yet?' she asked them.

'Yep,' they replied together.

'Still going on about Alice,' grinned Fabian.

'Bloody besotted,' muttered Gideon.

'Yes, well they're both a little occupied at present,' said Lily, jerking a thumb over her shoulder. At six foot one and a half inches a piece, the twins were able to see easily over the crowds

'But don't you think it's nice that they're both so happy now?' Lily asked, slightly put out.

'Yeah, well after that disaster with… what was her name? Blonde, thick?' asked Fab.

'Oh, well that narrows it down,' said Lily, looking up at the train and seeing five such offending faces peering down at her with revolt.

'Yeah,' laughed Gid. 'Well, she was a disaster.'

'Poor bloke,' Fab said quietly, looking over at Frank.

'Well, at least he's got Alice now,' said Lily. 'And they're both smitten so all's well that ends well.'

'Yeah, she's a decent one,' agreed Fab.

'And it was all down to me,' smiled Lily, causing meaningful glances between the twins. 'What a triumph!'

A derisive snort from behind her diverted her attention. 'Triumph- you made a lucky guess!'

Lily turned on James, her expression deadly serious. 'Have you never learned of the triumph of a lucky guess?'

'Never needed to,' he replied. 'I just don't do guessing, goes against my nature. I know everything.'

'Indeed?' asked Lily, raising a very long and delicately plucked eyebrow. 'Well, I do not believe in anything that tampers with natural ignorance.'

'Good God Lily, it's only eleven in the morning and we're already quoting Oscar Wilde at each other.' Lily's reply was only a wilting smile as she turned her back on James towards the Prewetts who made a half-hearted attempt to hide their sniggers.

'I saw that,' Lily muttered, smiling. 'And I… wait, eleven!'

Sure enough, at her words, the whistle of the great locomotive rang loud and clears through the air and the sound of slamming doors began to mingle with the sounds of crying children and parents.

'My stuff isn't even on the train!' and she started back towards the barrier where she had dumped her trolley before greeting Alice.

'Well lads, I think we know when out assistance is required,' said Fabian and he, followed closely by his brother and James hurried after Lily, grabbing her trunk, cat and broomstick from the trunk before she could say a word and threw them unceremoniously in through the nearest open door. Lily was then picked up by one of them and she followed her trunk landing, for the second time in five minutes on the ground in a heap. The boy followed after her, just as the train began to pull away and she was righted to her feet by Gideon.

'As you helped me with my baggage, I will, for the moment, shelve my pride and forget that you threw me into a moving vehicle,' Lily said grudgingly, brushing off the bottom of her jeans, causing interested looks from her party. When she ceased in her activity, she found Gideon studiously inspecting his fingernails, Fabian examining something on the ceiling and James staring at her arse quite shamelessly. 'Well?' she prompted them, and their attention napped back to her immediately. 'Are you going to help me find a compartment or are we to spend the whole journey in this cosy little corridor?'

'Ah, your ladyship is too generous and kind to trouble us all with small talk,' said Fabian, heaving her trunk upright.

'Indeed, who needs the words 'please' and 'thank you' when fair Lily graces us all with her presence?' muttered Gideon good naturedly as he picked up her owl cage, gaining him an unfriendly nip on the finger from Archimedes who was obviously not going to shelve his pride and be thankful he caught the train.

'Oh shut up,' Lily said, smiling, and traipsed off down the train in search of her friends, the three boys struggling along in her wake.

'Slave labour,' muttered James.

'I heard that!' called Lily brightly from up ahead. 'Oh, here we go!'

The compartment she had found contained Frank and Alice, Remus, Peter and two other seventh years- Daniel Highbury and Clarissa Edgecott . Once the others were all inside, it was a bit of a squash, but a friendly squash at least.

'God Lils, we thought you'd missed the train,' Franks said with a smile of relief as he saw her and stood up to heave her trunk into the rank as Fabian collapsed into a seat huffing and heaving.

'What do you keep in there Lils? Bricks?'

'Clothes,' she replied brightly. 'Oh, and a new silver cauldron.'

'Girls,' muttered Gideon as he all but threw her owl up along with her trunk.

'Gid!' she exclaimed, standing on a seat to check her owl. 'If you hurt him-' she said reproachfully as opened the door to the cage to let her tawny owl out.

'Don't let that thing out! It's vicious!' cried Gid and as if to emphasise his point he wielded his hand around for everyone to glimpse a tiny, insignificant scratch on his forefinger. But before anyone could think of a cutting remark in reply to his hypochondria they heard-

'YOU ARE SO MEAN TO ME!'

'I'M MEAN TO YOU! WELL, YOU'RE MEAN TO ME!'

'Oh God,' said Fabian.

'Blondes?' offered Gideon.

'YOU CAN BE SUCH A BULLY, MULLET!'

'DON'T CALL ME BY MY SURNAME, _QUISTAR_!'

'OH, YOU ARE SUCH A HYPOCRITE!'

'YEAH, WELL YOU'RE A HIPPO-CRUT TOO!'

'Yup, it's the blondes,' muttered James.

'OH, JUST GO AND SHAG SOMEBODY!'

'WHY DON'T YOU?'

'Such well structured arguments,' commented Lily, stifling a giggle.

'BECAUSE I'M NOT A SLUT LIKE YOU GEORGIA!'

Disbelieving looks were passed around the group in the compartment, and at that moment both James and Daniel launched into a huge bout of coughing fits.

WELL, YOU'RE NOT EVEN A NATURAL BLONDE!'

'Ooh, touché,' grinned Alice.

At that moment, a streak of bottle blonde hair streaked past their door. Clearly the last comment had just been below the belt. The group exchanged uncomfortable looks. Finally, Lily offered to go after her.

She left the compartment (a feat in itself as there were nine pairs of legs to climb over) and only had to guess where the girl had gone.

'The toilets,' she muttered, wondering if there was ever a greater cliché. Why was it that you had to go to a smelly and slightly unsanitary place to bawl you eyes out? Lily had tried it once but it only seemed to make her condition worse, especially as she had chosen Moaning Myrtle's bathroom in which to do it.

As she approached the door, she heard sniffles from the other side. She knocked gently but was met with no reply. Another typical tact- pretending you don't exist. She knocked again slightly louder.

'What do you want?' came a miserable voice.

'To talk to you,' replied Lily gently. 'That is you Christiana?'

'Who's that?'

'Lily.'

'Lily? Evans?'

'Yup.'

A few seconds pause followed this, superseded by the sound of the lock drawing back. The door opened to reveal a girl with long, straight very artificially blonde hair (probably more given away by the fact that it was a totally different colour to her eyebrows), large dark brown eyes and tear-stained cheeks. She launched herself onto Lily, crying into her shoulder.

'I hate them so much,' she sniffled.

'Don't we all?' Lily said, smiling slightly. Christiana pulled away, she really did look quite a mess. 'Come on,' said Lily consolingly. 'There's an empty compartment just up here, let's get you cleaned up.' Christiana nodded dolefully and followed Lily a few paces up the carriage to the said compartment and plopped herself down on a seat. Lily sat down opposite her, regarding her closely.

'Right,' she said finally. 'First thing's first. Let's put your hair back the way it was.' At her words, Christiana looked slightly apprehensive but nodded all the same. Lily whipped out her wand, gave it a tricky little flick and muttered 'Chevanus naturalis' and where very long and very straightened golden locks had been, thick brown curls had formed to just below her shoulders.

'Much better,' Lily remarked, smiling at her handiwork. 'Now that matches your eyebrows.' Christiana giggled slightly, and then hiccupped. 'Okay, spill. What's the deal with you and the prissy posse?'

Taking a steadying breath, Christiana launched into the tale of how she more or less got dragged along with all the girls and had felt so out of place with her Mediterranean features that she had dyed her hair to try and fit in but they had still shunned her. And then she told her about how she thought Georgia had looked up to her (as Georgia was the year below them) but didn't. The rest of the story was a little hard to decipher as Christiana had dissolved into tears again. However between the hiccups and sniffles, Lily thought she'd made out that the main basis of the argument had either been about birthdays or giant tortoises. She was inclined to think the former.

'And now I feel so bad because I've been hiccup neglecting you all these sniff all these years, and I always sort of worried if you were sniff okay, but I never bothered t-to ask and so now I hiccup I know I'm a horrible p-person, so I should be back with th-them. Th-they're s-so self-centred and sniff I n-never wanted to be like that.'

'Need a hanky?' came a voice from the door. Gideon was leaning against the frame, looking slightly uncomfortable that there was a girl crying near him, but handling it remarkably well considering. He held out the proffered hanky which Christiana took with a smile and blew her nose with all the force of a small elephant.

'Thanks,' she said, obviously wondering whether it would be rude to keep it, or rude to give it back.

'Keep it,' he said with a grin. 'Anyway, we were just wondering if you were both still alive, you've been gone for an age.'

'Yeah, we'll be back in a second,' said Lily. 'You will come sit with us?' she asked Christiana.

I-I'd love to,' she answered with a watery smile.

'Yeah, I'm sure we can find some room for you. We can push James onto the floor if needs be.' Lily and Christiana both giggled despite themselves and Lily tried a reproachful glance at Gid which failed spectacularly. Gideon made to go and then stopped, turned around and said to Christiana, 'Oh, by the way. I like your hair.' Then he grinned, winked and walked off.

'He's nice,' said Christiana quietly.

'Yeah he is,' agreed Lily. 'All the guys are actually.'

'You actually talk to them?'

'Yeah, of course.'

'Wow, you must be so brave. I've only ever heard them talk, but I could never work up the courage to talk back.'

'Well, they're just mates, you know. They are human beings… some of the time. Come on, we'll make the introductions, and then you can make all those girls wild with jealousy.' Christiana laughed nervously. 'We might even be able to set you up with one of them…'

'Oh I don't know-'

'I do,' said Lily, excitement getting the better of her as she smelt the promise of match-making looming up ahead. She stood up, and Christiana did likewise.

'Are we friends now then?' Christiana asked nervously.

'Definitely,' replied Lily giving a quick hug, 'Chrissy.' And arm in arm, they made their way back down to the other's compartment where, sure enough, James did get relegated to the floor, but not before he'd pulled half of the other occupants down with him.

Lily made sure that Chrissy was introduced and Gideon offered to sit next to her where they chatted for quite a while. And, naturally, Lily got slightly excited about this.

'_Ooh, project!_' screamed her mind. Chrissy would, however, turn out to be a much greater project than Lily could ever have anticipated…

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Woah, quite a long chappie for me! Tell me what you thought…?**

**R xxx**


	3. Of sweets and Spanish

**Oh, I really am getting a little too excited about this fic- I'm severely neglecting my other one. Ah well, I'll get back to it soon- promise! **

**Thank you so so so so so much for my reviews, they really are my inspiration to keep going. I'd like to see how quickly I can get to 100…. Dunno if it'll ever get that much though. Well, a girl can hope!**

**I probably won't be able to update again 'til next weekend as I'm back to school on Monday :P**

**Well, that just gives you time to write really really lovely scrumptiously (good word!) long reviews (nudge nudge, wink wink!).**

**Stay groovy-**

**R xxx**

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Lily smiled, really truly grinned for the first time since last term, when she saw how quickly everyone had accepted Chrissy as one of their own and not an impostor (which of course she wasn't really, but it was a niggling fear of hers).

'So have you lived in Spain most of your life?' asked James who was still seated firmly on the ground but seemed to be making the most of his situation- so far he had conjured up eight cushions and pillows to spread himself on and was taking it in turns to use peoples' knees as head rests. He was currently residing on Peter's who, from the very strained smile plastered on his face, was in a substantial amount of discomfort from it, but not wanting to complain to his idol.

'Most of it,' replied Chrissy. 'We moved when I was about three, so I don't remember much of England before Hogwarts.'

'So you speak Spanish then?' asked Gideon which pronounced interest. Chrissy nodded.

'Very sexy language,' said Fabian.

'Seconded,' came Frank, Gideon and Daniel's voices, earning Frank a swift punch on the arm from Alice.

Chrissy blushed deeply. 'Gracias,' she said quietly, grinning.

'Oh come on, you're going to have to teach us some now,' said Dan laughing.

'Yeah, girls completely dig guys with accents,' agreed James.

'Boys,' mumbled Lily, Alice and Clarissa, and then laughed simultaneously. The boys all put on identical mock affronted looks and turned all their attention to Chrissy who couldn't have gone a deeper shade of red if you'd paid her twenty galleons. Lily smiled inwardly but it must have shown on the outside because…

'Lily Felicity Evans, don't you dare.' Alice was turned towards her, arms crossed firmly over her chest and a very serious expression resting over her normally genial face.

'What?' said Lily with all the innocence she could muster.

Clarissa leaned forward and looked straight into Lily's eyes, staring intently into them for a minute before turning to Alice. 'Yep, she's got that look in them again.'

'Look? What look?' asked Lily, slightly concerned and pulling her compact mirror out of her pocket to check them.

'Don't play naïve with us Lils,' Alice said, now taking hold of one of Lily's shoulders and giving it a little shake. 'Under no circumstances are to do your 'match-making' thing again, do you understand?'

Lily huffed slightly, looking injured and said, 'Never in my life have I done any match-making dear friends. It's true!' she elaborated as their eyebrows rose simultaneously. 'It's just propi-'

'Oh, stuff and nonsense to that "propitious persuasion" crap Lils!' said Clarissa.

'Yeah, come on Lils, what if,' Alice lowered her voice slightly, 'what if she gets hurt?'

Lily thought about it for a moment, still basking slightly in her glory from Alice and Frank's match. Maybe it wouldn't hurt just to let Chrissy get with one of them herself. Goodness knows she had all their attention already. But sometimes people really didn't know who was good for them or not… if she could persuade her to fall for the right guy, then that would be all she needed.

Alice's eyes narrowed as she all but watched the cogs of Lily's brain tick round the problem that faced her. Honestly that girl was just an open book waiting to be read.

Finally, Lily took a breath and said, very slowly and with slight reluctance, 'Okay.'

'Good,' said Clarissa. 'Well, that's that then,' and she turned back to her book- Love Potions and their History, by Ruby Valentina. Lily rolled her eyes. _Hypocrite._

Lily turned to Peter who was seated next to her and whose face was demonstrating more and more pain as the minutes whiled away.

'Hey, you alright?' Lily whispered.

Peter started slightly but then grinned slightly. 'Yeah, it's just that… J-James is making me lose the feeling in my feet.'

Lily nodded sympathetically. 'Yeah, I hate pins and needles. Why don't you just ask him to move?'

'I dunno… he's comfy where he is I s'pose…' Peter explained lamely.

Lily remedied his problem with enthusiasm. 'Oy, Potter! Move your arse!' and she kicked him, not all too softly in the back.

'Ow. What the-?' James turned to the grinning red-head. 'What was that for?'

'Your hurting Peter,' explained Lily, jerking her head to her right where Peter looked at James with extreme apology.

'Am I? Sorry mate,' and James moved obligingly off Peter's legs. Lily started slightly- the James she thought she knew wouldn't have moved. He'd have laughed it off and probably stayed there until Peter's feet fell off for lack of blood supply.

'That's okay,' muttered Peter, who took the opportunity to massage his aching feet. James turned to Lily and glanced at her legs.

'Would you mind if I-?' and without waiting for an answer, he plonked himself against Lily's legs as he had with Peter. Lily sighed, _that_ was the old James.

'Of course you may…' she muttered under her breath. However, James was near enough to have heard. He turned around and gave her his most dashing smile- the one he used on girls if he wanted them to swoon/gasp/fall at his feet/etc- but Lily had seen it so many times that she had become immune to its effects.

'Hey Lils, check this out,' James cleared his throat for attention and dramatic effect and recited- 'Querida Lirio, tu pelo es como el feugo y tu ojos son el color de las esmeraldas.' James grinned and everyone clapped, Chrissy beaming at her prowess as a Spanish teacher. Despite the fact his accent was truly appalling, Lily decided it might be nice to pay him a compliment for once in a while.

'Very sexy,' said Lily laughing.

'Really?' asked James hopefully.

'No not really. Mainly because I don't have a clue what you just said.'

'But if you did know, then it would be sexy?' pushed James, eagerly.

'Well, the question remains, do _you _what you just said Mr Potter?' Lily asked, actually quite wanting to now what it was he'd said.

'I did…' James screwed up his face, trying to remember which of the things he'd asked Chrissy to translate he'd just said. 'Damn, what was it again Chrissy?' But it was not she who answered, but Remus who, behind his enormous volume of 'Hogwarts, A History' that he was re-reading for the eighth time, had been almost entirely excluded from all conversation.

'Dearest Lily, your hair is like fire and your eyes are the colour of emeralds.'

A slightly stunned silence met his small declaration.

'Dude,' said James, at a slight loss for words. 'Since when do you speak Spanish?'

'Oh, I've just picked a little bit up from holidays and stuff.'

'Say something!' said Peter eagerly.

Remus drew breath, not altogether pleased from having been dragged away from his favourite chapter ("1,782 secret passages- a guide").

'Fine. Prongs- tu es un idiota. Tu nez es demasiado pequena para tu cara pero tu boca compone para lo.' Chrissy snorted at this. Remus continued- 'Tambien, debas ya comprender que Lirio no te quiera, y nunca haga. Pues, renuncas y permitarme de leer mi libro.'

He gave a wry smile and turned back to his book, Chrissy doubled up with laughter, half at what had just been said and half at the looks on everyone's faces. James' in particular was quite an interesting picture- awe mixed with humour and disgust.

'I think I heard the word idiot in there,' James said to the room in general. Remus only smiled blandly at page four hundred and three and continued in reading. Then he paused and turned to Chrissy- 'Did I make any mistakes?'

'No, I think you completely your task in insulting him very effectively,' she giggled. 'And may I compliment you on your accent?'

'Why thank you.' Remus smiled and instead of turning back to his book, began engaging in conversation with her. This unsettled Lily slightly, but before she could interject, the lady with the food trolley arrived.

'Thank heavens this thing automatically refills itself,' sighed the lady as she collected all their proffered money and emptied what seemed like at least three quarters of the trolley's contents into the compartment. Most of it went onto the floor (as there was very little room left on the seats) much to James' delight, and they immediately began filling themselves with Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron cakes, Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans (they had a short competition to see who could find the most vile one- Fab won with compost with Clarissa a close second with Skelegro potion). The consumption of Pepper Imps was put on hold when Frank accidentally set fire to James' hair, something James told him he would never forgive until his dying day. James was a little touchy around the hair department- it was his pride and joy

When they had polished off all the food, they looked forward to a nice relaxing rest of journey with a few games of exploding snap. Alice agreed to exchange places with James in order to prevent any stray cards causing any more damage to his beautiful locks. Lily was less than happy about this as James appeared to be getting a little too comfortable sitting next to her and had contented himself with lying his head on her shoulder, which was now beginning to ache.

However, all plans for a peaceful journey were put on hold with the arrival of one Camilla Bates, a third year in complete awe of everyone in the group, but Lily above all. The door to the compartment slid open so quietly that no-one noticed there was another person in their presence until the unmistakeable, very high-pitched squeak that was Camilla penetrated their ears, causing immediate attention to her. This of course, was represented by Camilla as their being pleased to see her which, although not false, was not without its doubts. There was no better creature in the world, but alongside the good in her was blended the ridiculous, and one really had to be in the mood to talk to her if you were going to.

She was very short, with dark brown hair, huge blue eyes and very pink cheeks. She was extremely pretty but possibly the biggest chatterbox in England, if not the whole world. However, she was very generous and loved giving people gifts just to see their happy reaction- she had actually given Lily seven Christmas presents last year. Seven! And each was as thoughtful as the next, either something Lily really wanted or something she realised she wanted when she received it. Of course, this always made the receiver feel a little awkward if not a little guilty for only getting her one gift.

'Lily!' Eleven heads snapped to the doorway, seven put on forced smiles. Lily, Alice, Frank and James all smiled genuinely at the little girl, knowing her the best of the group. Camilla climbed across all the legs to the other side of the compartment to hug the four.

'Hi Millie,' said Lily, pulling the girl into a tight hug. 'Did you have a good-'

'Oh it was great thanks. Just great. We had a- Hi James!- we had a fantastic time in Italy, we went for three whole weeks you know!'

_Well seeing as you sent me six postcards…_ thought Lily. 'What was the weather-'

'Oh it was just fantastic. We went swimming every day. Literally every day! And- Alice, you have got a tan. Did you go somewhere nice?'

'Well, I went to C-'

'Oh yeah, you went to Cornwall didn't you? I got your postcard- thank you so so much. I love getting postcards. Just love them. It looked so pretty there. I - Frank! You sent me a postcard too! Thank you too! So did you go to Cornwall together or were you just both there by coincidence?'

'No we-' started Frank.

'Oh, you went together? Did your parents go too? I love Cornwall so much except the last time I went there I got ill because I ate an oyster and it was disgusting. Have you ever tried oyster?'

'Well, I-' tried Gideon, but he wasn't allowed to finish.

'They're disgusting aren't they? Seriously, if no-one's tried them, just don't bother. They'll make you ill and they're really expensive too. Anyway, while we were in Italy we went to these amazing waterfalls, and they were just so so beautiful that we were left speechless. Really quite quite speechless-'

_And you haven't stopped talking of them since…_

'Millie, have you met Chrissy?' asked Lily, amazed to have got more than two words in edgeways.

Camilla looked at Chrissy who smiled weakly at her, clearly slightly overwhelmed by the tiny girl. 'Well, it's always a pleasure to meet any friend of Lily's,' said Camilla, quite solemnly extending a hand which Chrissy shook. 'Is Chrissy your full name? That would be quite a strange full name wouldn't it?'

'No, it's just a-'

'Oh, it's just a nickname I suppose isn't it? What's it short for?'

'Christiana.'

'Oh, that's a very pretty name. Very very pretty- I think I should like to be called Christiana if I could my own name. You know, you look quite like my cousin you know.'

_Oh here we go…_

'Do you know her? Her name's-

_Fedora_

She's not in school very much nowadays because she-

_Gets ill quite a lot_

'But she's in the year below you, and she's from-

_Italy._

'Are you from Italy?'

'No, Spain,' replied Chrissy as quickly as she could in order to get the words in.

'Oh I adore Spain! I had a fantastic trip there last summer. But I'll have to tell you about it another time- I have to go and see my sister. She's starting this year and she's really really nervous! Cross your fingers she's in Gryffindor?'

'Sure,' smiled Lily, wondering what on Earth a mini-Camilla would be like in addition to the big one.

'Thanks! See you soon!'

And with that, she left. The whole compartment let out a collective 'woosh' of breath, as though they had been holding the air Millie should have been using but didn't seem to need.

'She's a sweetheart,' said Alice affectionately.

'You can keep her,' muttered Gideon who looked very much as though he had had his 'Camilla' dose for the entire year.

'I think she's really nice,' said Chrissy, smiling.

'You are more giving than I thought,' grinned Fabian.

'Well, at least she has good taste with names,' said Remus very quietly. 'Christiana really is a beautiful name.'

_RIGHT! THAT IS IT! _Lily's mind screamed. There was far too much flirtation going on around here to be good and this was not Lily's plan. Christiana and Remus? _Come on Chrissy, we can do better than this._

It wasn't as if she had any particular problem with him, nothing vast at least. It was just little niggling things- he was a total bookworm (not that she wasn't one herself, but she decided to let that one slide), he was always slightly scruffy and looked perpetually tired (not that a relationship should be based on looks, but with such a choice of fit guys around, why go for the least good-looking?), he had read Hogwarts, A History SEVEN times (normal people either only read it once or never at all, prefects usually read it twice, maximum three. But seven!) and finally… actually, Lily hadn't come up with a final point yet. But when she did, it would be the best one yet.

She was sure Remus was a perfectly nice person, but he was so distant, so secluded. Any time she had tried to befriend him, he pushed her away or just put on a façade of disinterest. And then there was the fact that he kept disappearing…

_Yes! That's the final point- _How can a girl expect to keep a steady boyfriend if he insists on being permanently absent. No, all in all, Remus was a bad choice… bad bad choice. Now what about Gideon? That was much better. Even though he was in Ravenclaw like his brother, he possessed may fine qualities- good looks being one of them. Good sense of humour, kind, _interested. _Yep, he was the one.

…you think Lily? Lils? HELLO, EARTH TO MISS EVANS!' Lily awoke from her stupor with every occupant's head turned toward her.

'Err, sort of…' Lily supplied, not having a clue what they were talking about.

'If it helps,' murmured James in her ear, 'the question was, "Do you think Frederique is a good name for a girl?"'

'Oh, well…' Lily paused to think about it. 'It's pretty in itself, but calling a girl Fred could get slightly confusing.'

'Well, we call Chrissy Chrissy,' said Dan.

'Yeah, and guys are called Chris,' retorted Clarissa.

'You can call a guy Chrissy if you wanted.'

'How many guys do you know called Chrissy!'

Removing herself slightly from the petty argument that had started, Lily turned to the window, looking at the hills now speeding by. The grey cloud of the morning was dispersing to reveal a fat yellow sun moving ever so slowly towards the horizon. Lily's thoughts wandered closer to Hogwarts, of her bed, the food and the friendships. After receiving twelve OWLS that summer, she was looking forward to honing her skills in her favourite subjects (finally allowed to drop Potions. Finally!) and developing new friendships.

Of course, there was the niggling feeling of the wedding looming ever nearer. Petunia had wanted quite a long engagement and the actual day was set in April. Lily still had yet to decide whether she would attend.

She drew her gaze away from the window towards her friends- Clarissa was now berating Dan for thinking that Blaise was a girls name. Lily sighed- if ever there was a match made in heaven, it was those two…

That would pair most people up in the carriage, although there was quite an excess of the male species. But not as many as there should have been as Lily glanced around. She couldn't quite believe she'd neglected Sirius' absence for so long. She'd noticed he wasn't on the platform but had just assumed he hadn't arrived yet. But he wasn't here.

'Hey Potter?' she nudged James slightly in the ribs.

'Please, do call me James,' he said, for possibly the millionth time in his school career.Lily ignored him.

'Where's your other half?'

James laughed slightly, but the look in his eyes told Lily quite plainly that even now, he was missing his friend. 'I assume by that, you mean out dear Sirius 'Siriusly-good-looking' Black?' Lily nodded, smiling. 'Well, he has apparently been detained at home due to 'family problems'.

'But,' said Lily puzzled, 'he hates his family. Surely problems would be a welcome excuse to leave?'

'He didn't tell me what the circumstances were, but if he's not telling me, there must be something up.' Lily agreed silently. If she didn't know better, she would have guessed that Sirius and James were just replicas of the same personality. They even looked slightly alike- dark hair, dark eyes, rakish grin, same old same old.

'I'm sure it's fine. He'll be back in no time.' Lily laid a comforting hand on James' forearm and he covered it with his own, instinctively.

'Yeah, but we always kept this tradition of guessing what house each kid would be in before they get sorted- it's usually in the name you know? I've won fifteen galleons, seven sickles and a knut over the years. Be a pity to miss it.'

'Well, why don't you just double the odds next year?' suggested Lily with a grin. James smiled but didn't say anything.

It was only half and hour later, when the food trolley came along later that Lily realised that her hand was still in James'. He had fallen into a quiet doze, his head on her shoulder and possessed quite a strong grip even his unconscious state. So Lily was forced to eat her chocolate frog one-handed. Quite a feat really.

Two hours later, they were drawing near to Hogsmeade and needed to change. The event was not terribly eventful- the girls kicked the boys into the spare compartment to give them a bit of peace and quiet. Then James got clobbered by a conjunctivitis curve by Alice when they caught him looking in through a hole in the wall separating them. Eye red and weeping, he exited the train with the others into the cool evening breeze of the platform.

Lily breathed in, smelling the characteristic smoke and honeysuckle of the guard's house. The moon hung in the air- a gash of silver against the indigo sheet above them. In the distance, Lily could make out the glittering lights of the castle and owls from cages on the train were being released into the air to make their own way to the citadel.

Looking around at her group of friends, she let out a contented sigh.

She was home.

**

* * *

I should like to take this opportunity to say that if anyone has read the book or seen the film of Emma, the first 3 chapters really are just introductions to characters and building the story. So I think I've more or less introduced everyone that needs to be introduced for this story so far, so hopefully, we can get on with a little plot! Thank you to all my lovely reviewers! I love all you to absolute pieces!**

**R xxx**


	4. Of Potatoes and Pictures

**Woah, bit of a delay there (i.e. over half a year)! Absolutely humongous apologies- I really don't know what happened. School this year is mad, and naturally I'm meant to be working my arse off these hols ready for exams- hence why I am staying up to write this as revision is really an exercise in futility as far as I'm concerned!**

**I do hope you enjoy this- remember where we were before (if you read the preceding chapters when they were actually posted!). **

**I would just like to make one little point. Having reread what I wrote in a previous chapter, I realised I've said that lily hates Potions. This was written before HBP and now of course we know that she rocked at it. Although this plays little part in the story, I thought I'd just say that I realise it's a mistake now, but it wasn't last year! So please don't shoot me for bad continuation or something!**

**R xxx**

**

* * *

Disclaimer: Okay, my plan is that if I bankrupt Warner bros then I can claim all rights on Harry Potter. However, this course of action will take several months to be effective and in the mean time I need 4km of steel girder, a monster truck and 3 swiss bank accounts. Suffice to say that until this plan works, I don't own anything to do with Harry Potter. Weep for me.****

* * *

Chapter 4- In which our heroine realises just how much she hates being wrong…**

"The reason that I have not done a portrait in so long is the spouse of the

subject always complains. As there are no husbands or wives here, I trust I

may proceed safely."

"No husbands or wives, at present…"

* * *

The Great Hall glittered and shimmered just as well as it always did. The enchanted candles burned above them (James had bewitched them to drip wax all over the Slytherins as a way of breaking in the new year) and above that, the ceiling was slowly darkening to dusty purple. The sorting came and went with children Lily swore were even smaller than last year's lot and Dumbledore had given his usual start of term notices (much to Peter, Remus and James' glee the list of forbidden items had climbed to a record three hundred and seventy two) and the feast began.

'You know,' said Chrissy pensively, watching the boys shovel food into their mouths as though it was their last ever meal, 'up close, they're not as attractive as I thought they were.' Lily laughed loudly at this, realising how true it was. James tried to shoot them an affronted look which failed quite spectacularly, his cheeks resembling that of a hamster having just shovelled in a load of mashed potato.

'Eat with your mouth closed,' said Alice to Peter, poking him in the side and causing him to start choking on whatever it was he was eating at the time. Remus whacked him hard on the back while Dan and James roared with laughter. 'They really are disgusting creatures,' muttered Alice. 'And I should know, I've got two brothers myself.'

'Yeah well, Petunia's not quite as bad as this lot eating-wise,' Lily inclined her head towards Peter, Remus and James, the former now turning slightly blue, 'but her manners are just as bad, if not worse.'

Chrissy let out a heartfelt sigh. 'You're lucky to have brothers and sisters.' She gazed down at her stew, poking bits around her place and saying quietly, 'I hate being alone.'

'But you must have cousins or something?' Lily said.

Chrissy shook her head. 'I never knew my parents, and so I don't know whether they had siblings or anything.' She stabbed a potato on her fork and glared at it. 'I was put up for adoption when I was two. My parents never left their contact details.'

Lily and Alice exchanged uncomfortable glances. But it was Remus who came in next.

'But your adoptive parents are really nice. I've chatted to them occasionally at the end of term.'

Chrissy immediately brightened, smiling. 'Oh they are.., I just love them to pieces. I couldn't have asked for better people to care for me, they're as good as parents to me.'

'So are they Muggles?' asked Remus, seeming to have a genuine interest.

'Actually yes. But they don't mind my being a witch at all.' She grinned, 'they find it all quite exciting really.'

Now feeling slightly removed from the conversation, Lily turned to Alice but before she could say anything, Alice pre-empted her.

'They're getting on well.' Lily looked at her. Alice was gazing at Remus and Chrissy, smiling benignly.

'Oh. Yes, so they are,' said Lily, trying to sound happy and carefree but in effect actually just sounding as though she was about to sneeze.

'You alright Lils?' asked Alice.

'Me? Yes, fine. Why wouldn't I be?

'Nothing, it's just that…' Alice broke off mid-sentence, squirming slightly in her seat. She looked under the table quickly, then back up again. 'James…' she said slowly.

'Yes?' came the reply from opposite her.

'Wrong foot.'

'Oh. Whoops. Sorry.' And looking thoroughly unabashed, he started stroking his foot up and down Lily's ankle instead. Lily ignored him.

Just then Gideon came over from the Ravenclaw table and poked his head in between Lily and Chrissy.

'Excuse me ladies, but may I trouble you for some potatoes? It's just that my dear brother has cunningly managed to invent a spell that… well, you can see for yourself, and we've run short.'

The whole Gryffindor group twisted in their seats to peer over at Fabian who had potatoes emerging from every visible part of his anatomy- nose, ears, mouth.

'Gross!' said Lily, Chrissy and Alice, half laughing half grimacing.

'Cool,' muttered James. Might have to get that incantation off you later Gid.

'No prob,' said Gideon grinning. 'Might want to wait to find a counter-jinx first though!'

'True…' mused James, who had gone into a daydream, probably envisaging different situations involving Slytherins and potatoes.

Chrissy, who was nearest to the potatoes on the table reached over and grabbed the bowl, passing it to Gideon.

'Angel,' he said, and kissed her on the cheek. He grinned, winked at Lily and departed.

Chrissy looked like she was in a slight state of shock. 'You know,' she murmured to Lily and Alice, 'they're actually not so bad after all…'

* * *

That night in the girls' dormitory, a stony silence had settled between the 3 members of the prissy posse and the new firm friends. In order to enjoy more privacy and to have a good bitch about the blondes, Chrissy had climbed into Lily's bed and they had cast muffliato around the curtains (a useful little spell Lily had picked up off Snape in the last Potions lesson of the previous year. Creepy though he was, the slimeball had his uses).

'Okay, marks out of ten,' giggled Lily, who loved this game more than any other.

'Right, ten being good I suppose?' asked Chrissy. Lily nodded.

'Okay, Peter,' whispered Lily.

Chrissy mused a second. 'Looks- 4. Cuteness- 7.'

'Yeah, maybe a five on looks,' said Lily fairly. 'He'd probably be okay if he were just a little taller.'

'And skinnier!' giggled Chrissy, looking slightly ashamed of herself, but having far and away more fun than any night she'd ever spent in Hogwarts.

'Okay, Dan and or Frank.'

'Yeah, they're both pretty good-looking,' said Chrissy, blushing even more. 'Seven? Eight?'

'Seven and a half,' compensated Lily. 'Personally, I prefer dark hair, but that's just me. Okay, Fabian.'

'At least an eight… maybe nine?'

'Nine's pretty high Chrissy…'

'Don't you think he's good looking?' asked Chrissy amazed.

'Well,' said Lily, thinking. 'Yes, he is. Both he and Gideon are… but I've known them for so long, it'd be weird going out with them, you know?'

'I know what you're getting at,' she mused, 'but I can't honestly say I've ever experienced the feeling.'

'But you will, darling. You will. Okay, Gideon's a no-brainer I spose, now that we've given Fabian an eight.'

'Oh, but I quite like Gideon… can't we give him nine?' Chrissy turned magenta at this, and Lily couldn't help but shout with glee inside. Another match made in heaven!

'Well, okay then,' she smiled. 'An eight for Fabian and a nine for his identical twin brother. Seems a bit cruel, but there you go…'

'What about James?' asked Chrissy. 'What would you give him?'

'For looks, a ten,' admitted Lily. 'For charms, minus four.'

'Oh, he isn't that bad Lils.'

'Fine, minus 3. Can we move on?' Chrissy realised this was not a subject on which Lily wished to dwell. She had been longing to ask about a conversation she'd overheard earlier- something about his brother and her sister, but she sensed that now was not the time.

'Sure,' she muttered.

'Right, who's left?' mused Lily. 'Oh yeah, Remus.'

To Lily's complete and utter horror, Chrissy turned an even brighter shade of red than she had previously been displaying as she muttered a hasty, 'Ten.'

'Ten?' asked Lily, trying to keep her voice steady. 'Really?'

'Well, yes…' muttered Chrissy. 'I really do like him Lils. He's sweet and funny and clever, we have loads in common-'

'But the other guys are all sweet and funny and clever too,' interjected Lily. 'What's different here?'

'I don't know,' said Chrissy quietly.

_DAMN!_

* * *

'What do you mean, "this is not good"?' asked Alice bemused the following Saturday.

The whole group of them- Dan, Clarissa, James, Peter, Remus, Chrissy, Alice, Frank, Camilla, Camilla's little sister (who happened to be called Charlotte and was, as feared, just as talkative as her older sister, if not more so), Gideon, Fabian and Lily were all lazing away what was probably the last hazy sunny day of the by the lake. Lily had pulled Alice away from the main group to the waters edge where she was now hoping to get a little support in her plight.

'I mean, Gideon really likes her, she really likes Remus and Remus, quite clearly really likes "Hogwarts: A History",' hissed Lily, skimming stones with a little more ferocity than was required.

'What's wrong with "Hogwarts: A History"?' asked Alice, bemused.

'It's just… oh look, sod the book. The book's unimportant. The fact is that I don't want Gideon's heart broken because she likes someone who doesn't like her back.'

Alice looked at her for a full three seconds before nearly dying of laughter. Lily glared at her while she clasped onto a nearby tree for breath. The others started looking around in mild curiosity.

'What on earth is going on with you two?' called Fabian, casting Alice a wary glace as she was now gasping for breath.

'Uh, nothing,' said Lily, casting around for excuses. 'Just a good joke I heard.'

She grabbed Alice by the hand and yanked her away from the tree.

'What's so funny?' she hissed.

Alice drew a calming breath. 'Well, it's just…'

No use, she collapsed into giggles again.

'Some funny joke,' muttered Remus, not glancing up from page 825 (chapter 22: 'So, you think you know everything about the Room of Requirement?').

'Get a grip Alice,' muttered Lily. 'What is so funny?'

'Would you like the short list or the long?' asked Alice, finally getting a hold of herself.

'Well, seeing as you'll treat me to the long, whichever I say…' muttered Lily.

'Well, first of all, I think it's obvious that Remus does like Chrissy. So it's definitely not unrequited, whatever you might say. Secondly, you promised me you were going to lay off this match-making business. And thirdly… Gideon? Heartbroken? The one boy who will never be without a gaggle of gorgeous girlies wherever he treads? Lily, I love you to pieces, but carry on like this, and I'm taking you down to the secure unit at St Mungo's. They've got a special ward for nutcases like you.'

Lily glowered but said nothing. She knew it was true, she knew her argument was flawed. She just hated being wrong about a match, especially this early in the term.

'Come on Lils, cheer up. Forget about your crazy schemes fro one afternoon?' Alice nudged her in the ribs. 'Look, your drawing pencils are getting lonely...' It was true- the box of pencils protruding from Lily bag had started squeaking intermittently, clearly distressed at being ignored

'Alright…' said Lily, ever so slightly grudgingly. She wandered over to her bag, sat down and drew out her pencils. It was a talent she'd harboured for a long time, she was the only person Alice knew that could accurately capture the right expression on people's faces down on paper.

Lily drew for most of the rest of the afternoon. There was one of Camilla and Charlotte playing with Alice's cat, Cleo. One of Clarissa who had dozed off while lying on Dan's chest, one of Remus sitting against a tree reading a book of poetry Chrissy had lent him (he had abandoned Hogwarts: A History when James threatened to feed it to the giant squid). By five o'clock, the sun was starting to go down and Lily had started a drawing of Chrissy who was sitting down by the water's edge writing in her diary. After about half and hour, Gideon came and sat down next to Lily, peering over her shoulder.

'Yes?' asked Lily.

'Nothing,' replied Gideon. 'I just like watching people draw.' He looked closer at the picture. 'Hey Lils, this is really good.'

'You're going to put me off,' muttered Lily smiling, trying to capture the reflection off the water just right, but still not quite getting it.

'Little old me? Never!'

Just then, James decided he was going to have a peek at the drawing too.

'Well, you might not put me off,' said Lily, glancing up from her drawing to check the position of Chrissy's arm, 'but he might.' She nodded her head in the direction of James who was now casting a shadow over her work. 'Oy, I can't see! Move out the way Potter!'

James crouched down next to Lily, inspecting the drawing. 'You've made her hair too long.' Lily gave him a withering glare.

'I think it looks nice,' said Gideon in Lily's defence. 'Besides, I'm sure Chrissy's hair will probably be at least that long by the end of the year anyway.'

'Don't worry about it Gid,' said Lily. 'Potter just likes to find fault with me, that's all.'

'Ah,' James muttered in her ear, so quietly only she could hear it, 'but I am practically a brother to you Lils. Isn't it a brother's job to find fault with his sister?'

Lily retaliated by sticking out her tongue at him, smiling ever so slightly and turning back to her drawing.

Gideon, who had not heard any of the last conversation asked, 'Lils? Do you think I could copy this drawing once it's finished?'

_YES!_

'Oh, you can have the real thing if you like,' said Lily sighing and putting down her pencil. 'I just can't get this water right and it'll annoy me if I keep it.'

Gideon took the paper from her and gazed down at the sketch. 'She really does look beautiful…' he murmured. Lily smiled satisfactorily, a good day's work done.

* * *

'He WHAT!' shrieked Lily up in the dormitory. It was midnight, and Lily and Chrissy had finally gone upstairs to bed. However, Chrissy had given Lily some unexpected news.

'He asked me out,' repeated Chrissy, blushing furiously but smiling broadly all the same.

Lily beamed back. 'Oh this is fantastic! I can't believe Gideon asked you out… Oh the girls are going to be so jealous! And all in the first week of term! I-' but Lily cut off short at the look on Chrissy's face. 'What is it..?' she asked warily, for Chrissy had looked nervous and edgy, the smile faltering on her face.

'Well, I…' she stammered. 'I… I mean it… Gideon didn't ask me out.'

'Then who...?'

'Remus did.'

'Remus?'

_DAMN!_

'Is that bad..?' asked Chrissy.

_Oh no, it's just peachy…_

'Well, no. Not exactly,' said Lily, choosing her words carefully so as not to hurt her friend's feelings. 'But I would advise you to think carefully on this.' She stopped short. 'What did you tell him?'

'That I would tell him in the morning,' replied Chrissy. 'I really wanted your opinion first.'

_Good girl._

'Well, if you think him the nicest, most good-looking, most lovely guy you have ever met or will ever meet, why should you refuse?'

That got Chrissy. She paused, and Lily knew her job here was done. She climbed underneath her blankets, blowing out the candle next to her bed as she did so.

'Did I tell you that Gideon now has a picture of you in his possession…?'

**

* * *

Ooh, I am back in business! I might just have to write another chapter right now- I've got myself hooked! Damn addictive business, writing…**

**Ooh ooh, I got the Goblet of fire on DVD yesterday! Mmmmm…. Cedric….**

**R xxx**


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